With EPICS' sharp images, astronomers will also get more information about potential life on exoplanets. EPICS and METIS are two instruments that will allow us to observe exoplanets very well.' By the time the instrument is finished, I will be well into my sixties, but I am very much looking forward to it. So not just exoplanet Proxima b, but also Earth-like planets around other stars. Instead of looking at one or two worlds, we can study a whole group of such objects. 'With EPICS, we can look at reflected light. The instruments will be on one of the platforms.Īlthough the latter instrument will not be built until the mid-2030s, Snellen is very much looking forward to its measurements. 'For the third instrument called EPICS, we are really still in the early stages with studies on the instrument and the technical aspects.'Īrtistic impression of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).
It can observe hundreds of stars and galaxies simultaneously and make detailed spectra of them. It will be the first instrument put into use.’įor the other two instruments, we will have to wait a little longer. We have been working on this instrument for about ten years. 'With METIS, we can find out whether Proxima b has an atmosphere and what gases are in that atmosphere. Of the mid-infrared instrument METIS, the Netherlands is project leader. With the instruments we are building for the ELT, we can find out exactly what the properties of that world are.' Building three instrumentsĭutch astronomers at NOVA are collaborating on three instruments for the ELT. 'Our neighbouring star has a planet that is very similar to Earth in size and orbit, called Proxima b.
With the ELT, astronomers can study quite faint objects in space and see them sharper than ever.
But it is the instruments on the telescope that determine what kind of science you can do with it.' 'The bigger the telescope, the more light it captures and the further you can see. 'It’s the telescope that captures the light,' says Snellen. With a mirror of 39 metres width, it will be the largest telescope in the world. In the middle of the Chilean desert, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is under construction.
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